Alina was stark naked on the Darkling's table, legs around his shoulders, head thrown back and gasping, when the call came from outside the tent.

"Whoever that is can fuck - right - off," She fought to catch her breath, glaring at the entrance.

"I said that I was not to be disturbed, Ivan," The Darkling said from between her legs, voice cold and irritatingly even.

"Apologies, moi soverenyi," The Heartrender said. "There is... concerning news from Os Alta that requires your urgent attention,"

For Ivan to admit that a matter was concerning - and to go against the general's explicit orders - meant that something truly cataclysmic must have happened. The Darkling knew this too, as he got to his feet, straightening his own clothes and throwing her a blanket from the bed.

Alina stared at him, incredulous. "I'm not letting Ivan see me wrapped in nothing but this, covered in fingerprints,"

"There has never been a man alive less interested in naked women," He said, careless, wiping his mouth almost as an afterthought as he moved over to the tent flap.

That was a good point, though Alina was still annoyed at the interruption. There was no time to pull together her clothes, however, only hurriedly wrap herself in the blanket and move from the table to the chair behind it. Ivan entered the tent along with a nervous-looking young man dressed in the King's livery. The messenger's eyes widened at the sight of her, bare aside from a blanket, lounging moodily in the Darkling's chair like she owned it. He clearly did not know where to look. Ivan, of course, hardly blinked.

"Well?" The Darkling asked. The bite to his tone was only slightly more pronounced than usual, but gave away that he was just as irritated at being interrupted as she was.

"Someone better have died," Alina muttered.

Ivan looked pointedly at the messenger, who looked like he wanted to be anywhere else, but swallowed and spoke. "His Majesty, King Pyotr Lantsov, writes to inform the General of the Second Army of the recently announced betrothal of his son and heir, Prince Vasily Lantsov,"

The look on Ivan's face, the fear on the young man's, and the hesitation on both, was enough to confirm Alina's worst suspicions. The Darkling asked the question, however, his voice even but dangerous. "And who is his bride to be?"

The messenger's eyes darted her way for a split second, and her stomach dropped. "The Sun Summoner, moi soverenyi. Alina Starkova," The shadows in the room flared. Every vein in Alina's body felt like it was frozen solid. But the messenger seemed determined to blurt out everything now he had started. "The announcement has been made public and preparations have already been made for Miss Starkova's return to the Grand Palace. To celebrate the wedding, as a gift to all of Ravka, it has been promised that the new Tsarevna will bring down the Fold in its entirety,"

Alina knew that the Darkling had expected backlash for not having her destroy the Fold, particularly after her creation of the tunnel. The King could not go back on this decision to betroth her to the prince without looking weak, not after making it public. In theory, this would leave them no choice but to go along with it. It had been an unusually smart move from the Lantsov Tsar. No doubt the Apparat had a hand in it. He'd always wanted to tear his precious little saint away from the leader of the Second Army, and use her as a figurehead for his own ambitions.

Even before she had begun to spend her nights in the Darkling's tent, he had made his claim on her plain to see, no matter how she riled against the idea of belonging to anyone. As she had predicted, sleeping with him had only increased that possessiveness. Though she had no time for such unnecessary theatrics, that did not mean others didn't notice. And now, he was being told that she was to marry another, a man he disdained and despised? For a moment, Alina almost forgot her own rage (and horror, distress, panic, etcetera) at the news as she glanced at him, watching for a reaction. For a moment. Almost.

It was her who broke the silence, of course, wishing she wore something more impressive than a blanket as she leaned forward in the chair, placing her arms on the table and looking the messenger dead in the eye with a sharp smile. "Tell the Tsar that if his vile son comes anywhere near my bed, he will return as a eunuch. The day I wed that pathetic excuse of a man will be the day the General joins the ballet,"

The Darkling raised a hand to silence her.

Alina bristled at that, her smile turning into a snarl. "Don't wave that hand at me. I'm the one being sold off to the Prince, not you," She turned back to the messenger. "Tell the King I've lain with most of the Little Palace, and gotten drunk with half of Os Alta. That you found me dancing naked around a campfire to entertain the soldiers. That I'm little more than a common peasant girl who won any privileged position I have on my back. Tell him every depraved thing you can think of. Saints, say that I'm pregnant and have no idea who the father is. They can't make me a princess then,"

"Alina," The Darkling's tone was not to be argued with. Not that that would normally have stopped her, but her voice caught in her throat and for once she fell silent. He addressed the young man. "Miss Starkova is not the Tsar's to take,"

She hated that he meant she was his instead, hated that she would rather be his, because at least this man was somehow (somehow!) the lesser evil. The parts of her he took were ones she could live without. The ones he gave her were impossible to give up. And she took from him equally in return. She despised the Darkling often, but it was a familiar kind of hate, a monster she knew almost as well as she knew herself.

Whilst the messenger floundered at the Darkling's question, Alina's breath started quickening in that familiar feeling of panic, her entire world falling around her, even as she fought to compose herself in front of the other two men. She remembered the feeling of the Prince's lips, his grasping hands, the utter powerlessness she had to stop it despite being more than capable of killing him where he stood. If she was married to Vasily, every part of her that made her Alina would be stripped away, chained and shackled, forced into the mould of a princess, a future queen, a saint. Well, that was if she let them. Perhaps she would just be so vile that they could not keep her? She would break before she bent.

Or...

Alina's panic abruptly stilled, cut off at the neck. It was obvious, really, what their next course of action was.

The Darkling caught her eye, clearly ready to dismiss the other two so she could fall apart, but blinked in evident surprise at the faint smile he found on her face instead. That smile clearly concerned him more, as he sent Ivan and the messenger away at once. "Why are you not raging and screaming?" His eyes narrowed in suspicion the moment they were gone. "Don't tell me you want to marry that weak-chinned rat of a prince?"

She looked up at him from his own chair. "There's an easy way out of this. Don't act like you're not already thinking through exactly how to do it,"

"Do enlighten me," His tone was too careful, his eyes like a shark's.

Alina's smile widened. "Treason," The Darkling said nothing, just blinked slowly, so she continued. "General Zlatan has the right idea. The Lantsovs are lazy, incompetent and spoiled, while Ravka bleeds and starves. Let's kill the Tsar," Sorry Nikolai, but he's definitely not your real father anyway.

He barked a laugh, though his eyes were shrewd and calculating. "Just like that? And who would you have take his place?"

"Nikolai, I suppose. We could have his family die in mysterious circumstances, he'd be first in line. He's clever, charismatic, well-loved and actually gives a shit,"

"The Prince might have been your friend as a child, Alina, but by now he will be a grown man, with ulterior motives and his own agenda. Whilst he may be more intelligent than his oaf of a brother, that is not necessarily to our benefit - the Tsar and Vasily are easy to manipulate. Nikolai would not be. If he learned we murdered his father and brother, he is not likely to take that in stride. Not to mention he has not been seen in court for years,"

"Fine, not Nikolai. Do we need a replacement? How about no one at all? Ravka could be a republic, ruled by the people," She was half joking, half not. "A haven of anarchy with the heads of the aristocrats mounted on the city walls. I'd like that," She smiled at the look of disgust on his face, but quickly sobered, knowing where this discussion was going. "You want it yourself, though, don't you. You've been waiting a long time," It wasn't a question.

He did not address that right away. "Your options at the present are relatively limited. You could do as you're told and marry Vasily, in line to become Queen one day. You could flee and live in exile, never to see anyone dear to you again. Or, you take matters into your own hands. It is one thing for scheming courtiers and disgruntled First Army generals to speculate on such things as treason. It is another for us to do so - we could succeed, Alina,"

"Yes, 'we'," She said. "You couldn't do it alone. You haven't tried in four hundred years for a reason. The otkazat'sya would never support a Grisha King. The Grisha are strong, but not that strong. You could win the throne easily, but you'd never keep it without a miracle,"

A flash of displeasure crossed his face at her doubt in him, but as ever he managed to twist her words to his advantage. "Thus you should not doubt that in this we truly would be equals, as you so often demand. Together, we could create a new Ravka, Alina. Where Grisha are respected rather than outcast and mistrusted. Where there are no more wars, and the country can progress as it should. Where you are free to do as you like,"

"Would I be free?" She raised an eyebrow. "I'm not so sure I trust you with a crown. For that matter, how are you going to end the wars you've been fighting since you formed the Second Army?"

He conveniently ignored the first part of that. "We have a weapon that could make all of Ravka so afraid there would be no choice but to accept a Grisha as Tsar. Shu Han and Fjerda would never trouble our borders again,"

"Do we?" She frowned, concerned. Had he had the Fabrikators working on something in secret? What weapon could possibly be so terrible that it would hold a whole country hostage, and defend the borders being fought over for hundreds of years?

"Think, Alina," Shadows rose up behind him, framing him in darkness. "A miracle, of sorts,"

She thought. Then realised exactly what he meant, and her blood ran cold. He smiled, seeing she understood. The sight chilled her even further.

"No," The word left Alina's lips at once, crystal clear and unrelenting.

His smile dropped. "No?"

Surely he could not even be considering... "This is exactly why I don't trust you with unchecked power. Do you want the whole country to despise you?"

"It matters little, so long as they are scared enough to keep in line. All it would take is one town - "

"I would despise you, you evil bastard. You need me to use the Fold like that, and I won't play any part in setting that monstrosity on our own people. Not to mention, you'd make a hundred thousand enemies in one blow and spend the rest of your life putting down constant rebellions. Ravka would be begging for the Lantsovs back! A careless, lazy ruler is better than a tyrant,"

"You said it yourself," The Darkling's tone was cold again, clearly not pleased by her flat refusal. "They will never accept a Grisha Tsar willingly. So we will make them,"

"I will not," She said in flat refusal. "There is no persuading me on this. I am offended you thought there was ever a chance. If you can't win a throne without murdering thousands of your own citizens in cold blood, you are incompetent as well as brutal beyond reason. Think of a better way, or I'll leave Ravka before I back you,"

The glare he shot her may have had lesser Grisha losing control of their bowels.

"And what exactly do you propose to do?" The Darkling asked, dangerously softly. "Do enlighten me, Alina, in all your worldly experience, how you are going to gently persuade Ravka - a country which dislikes, mildly resents and is highly suspicious of Grisha at best - to accept the most infamous of them as King?"

She smiled a twisted, humourless smile, reaching reluctantly for the ace up her sleeve. "Sankta Alina,"

That was shocking enough to catch the Darkling's attention, though his reply was scathing. "How is the saintly figure who you've claimed does not exist as long as I have known you going to be of any use?"

"Careful," She narrowed her eyes. "The only other plan I'm willing to follow involves me turning my back on Ravka entirely and disappearing across the sea. So you will listen to me, and not force me to do anything I don't want to do, or you'll never see me again,"

"I would find you,"

"I would fight you,"

They fell into a tense silence, glaring at each other.

As usual, Alina broke the silence. "You are right - getting the otkazat'sya to accept you as King without the imminent threat of death will be a challenge. But if you've taught me anything in all those council meetings, it's that public opinion changes with the wind. Mila Tarasova and her network are skilled in spreading rumours. First, we convince Ravka that the Lantsovs are unfit to rule. Then, slowly, psuh that you would not be a terrible replacement - so long as their beloved Sun Saint is there to keep you in check,"

"You have some nerve," The Darkling said, though did not sound angry. "That is all very well, but the common otkazat'sya who will be swayed by such rumour-mongering are not the ones who hold the power in this country,"

"We'll make him seem hateful to both upper and lower classes," Alina shrugged. "They'll turn against him in a flash at the mention of increased taxes on manor houses. And besides, don't pretend you are not well-versed in the language of alliances, bribes, threats and blackmail," She hesitated before adding, "I'll be able to influence them, too, as the Prince's bride-to-be,"

He stilled. "You can hardly mean - "

"I'm not actually going to marry him," She pulled a face. "But if I play along and go back to court, it will be half a year before the wedding at least, given what that messenger just saw and will certainly report back to the King," Alina was certainly not with child - the only thing she did religiously was take that contraceptive tonic every morning - but they would insist on waiting to be sure. "I can make friends in court. Play at being Sankta Alina to nobles and commoners alike," She grinned. "I could be the most popular person in Ravka, if I actually try. I've already put a dent in the Fold,"

"You are not that good an actress to suffer Vasily's company for months on end, let alone the rest of those twittering fools,"

"I can if it means his death is on the horizon. They won't leave me alone with him anyway, not until after the wedding. They won't let me anywhere without a shrivelled old nun as a chaperone,"

The Darkling fell silent for a long moment. Then, "Fine. But this is not a fun little game to entertain yourself with and run from once you get bored. As you insist on doing things your way, you will see this through with me,"

He knew her too well. Alina scowled, but supposed that was fair enough. "Fine,"

"And we will do this properly, not your usual reckless, haphazard way of doing things. These next few days before you leave for Os Alta, you will sit with me and plan down to the letter, and I will not hear a word of complaint,"

"Sounds delightful,"

"Alina - "

"Oh, no need to sound like that - of course I'll do it," She grinned. "You'll be eager to send me off to court after spending three full days in my company, planning. And I'll be eager to go,"

He did not smile back. "If the Prince attempts anything untoward again, then do what you have to. His death will come sooner rather than later regardless. I'm sure you are capable of leaving the city without assistance, if the need arises,"

She flickered herself invisible and back again. "Obviously. Careful, Aleksander, or else I might think you actually care beyond not wanting someone else to touch what you consider yours,"

"What I consider mine?" The Darkling stepped into her space.

Alina looked up at him, tilting her head to one side. "I'll never be yours, nor anyone else's. You will have the whole of Ravka soon - that's enough for anyone, surely? But you can pretend, if it makes you feel better,"

The kiss he gave her then was bruising, punishing, domineering and made her knees weak. "Are you sure?" He murmured into her lips.

"Without a doubt," She said, honestly.

*

"You can't be serious," Zoya's mouth was pressed in a hard line.

"We're coming with you," Viktor said. "You're not going into that snakepit alone,"

"The Prince sounds like a nasty little shit from what you've said, Lina," Mal shook his head, concerned. "Surely this is a bad idea,"

"I'm a nastier little shit," Alina shrugged. "And I'd love for you to come with me, but there is no chance that any Grisha or oprichniki are being let near me once I'm in the Grand Palace. Even if you were, I'd rather you not be used as leverage," She forced a smile on her face, the reality hitting her then that she would have to leave everyone she knew and loved for months and months. "I thought you're meant to congratulate your friend when she gets engaged to a Prince?"

"Stop it," Zoya narrowed her eyes. "There is no chance you'd agree to this willingly,"

"If I wasn't willing, do you really think I'd still be here?"

"Then you're up to something. You and the Darkling. There's no chance he'd hand you over to the Lantsovs willingly, either,"

Alina shrugged. "I can neither confirm nor deny. I'm sure you'll find out soon enough, though,"

"Saints," Mal pulled a face. "The thought of the two of you secretly plotting is terrifying,"

"The amoral, shadow-summoning megalomaniac with an army at his back teams up with the chaotic Sun Summoner revered as a saint by half the country," Viktor shuddered. "An unholy combination,"

"Those are some big words, Belsky," Zoya cut in, patronising as a result of her irritation. "You need to be careful, Alina. Playing a saint is one thing - playing god is another,"

"If playing god is what it takes to avoid marrying Vasily Lantsov, then so be it," She snapped, then reined in her tone at Zoya's expression. "We came to a compromise. Trust me, that was the best outcome. He'd act with or without me, sooner or later,"

"True enough," Her friend still did not look happy. "I hope you know what you're doing, Alina,"

"When do I ever?"

Zoya huffed a laugh. "Fine. But you have to know that we're with you if you need us. Not him," Viktor and Mal both made sounds of agreement.

"Brave," She laughed rather hollowly. "If I ever need to take you up on that, I'll let you know," It may be necessary sooner rather than later.

*

Alina rode into Os Alta to cheering crowds, disconcerting cries of 'Sankta', 'Princess', and 'Sol Koroleva', and countless praises for creating a way through the Fold and saving them from the darkness. Although royal guards lined the streets to stop the masses getting too close, for the first time in her life, she humoured them. It was a great effort to raise her hand that first time to wave - like once she did it, there was no going back - but after that, it came easily. Too easily. As did the smiles. She felt dead inside, of course, her other hand clenched in a white-knuckled grip around the reins, but the people of the city loved it. The roar of the crowd became almost hysterical when she summoned light to the palm of her hand, creating dancing figures, swirling tendrils, putting on a show.

It didn't feel worth it until she saw Prince Vasily waiting for her at the palace gates. He made a good show of being gracious and gallant towards his bride-to-be, but she could see the irritation behind his eyes that the people were cheering for her infinitely more than they had ever cheered for him. Oh, it will be sweet to bring you down.

Alina couldn't help it; she ignored his offered hand, casually enough to simply have not noticed, and rode into the palace courtyard alone.

"His Majesty has requested your presence, Miss Starkova," A guard informed her, the prince catching up to her side as she dismounted, unassisted.

"Allow me to escort you, Alina," Vasily smiled a sickening smile, taking her arm.

She took in a breath at his touch, conjuring a smile on her own face that was so unnervingly forced that it seemed to take the prince aback. "Call me Miss Starkova," She leaned forward to mutter in his ear. "And if that hand wanders before the wedding, you best believe I will fucking burn it,"

Her skin heated in a fraction of a second, enough to shock but not burn, and he flinched, letting go of her with a noise of surprise.

Alina took his arm herself this time, giving him a sharp grin, full of teeth. "Shall we?"

*

Again, sorry it's been ages since I last updated. I have been writing a dissertation, which I think is excuse enough.

That being said, I still watched the entirety of season 2 in a day. My main takeaway from this may be slightly controversial. I thought the production and the actors were nothing short of incredible. I was slightly disappointed they used so many scenes from Crooked Kingdom without the buildup but it didn't ruin the show for me, it was still fun to watch and they were clearly concerned they might not get a third season commissioned so I get why they did it; I do think as well they can bring the Crows' story to new levels now the emotional buildup has been kind of covered already (though of course it won't be the same). Most importantly of all, I absolutely LOVED what they did to Alina and her storyline. Mal is so much more likeable, Nikolai's actor was incredible, Alina's character is far more interesting, Alina and the Darkling's scenes were amazing together, Baghra features more prominently, it's not so dragged out, and that last scene where she marries Nikolai and shows her darker side (that little smirk!!) was gold. I hope to god they get a third season because I would watch the shit out of wherever that storyline goes.

Anyway, what did you all think of season 2? And more importantly, what did you think of this chapter and where this story is going? Thanks for reading, I love you all!